New Video Demonstrates How iPhone 7 Fares in Deep Water

[Euge]

This is the part I don't understand. If it is certified to survive 1 meter for 30 minutes (or whatever it is) and it falls in my sink for 1 minute at 3 inches and the phone gets damaged, it seems like the warranty should cover it...

Or, more importantly, it get wet this week, sets off the sensor but stops working 9 months from now (probably from something unrelated), is that water damage?

Water resistance is a difficult thing, and with something as complex as the iPhone it can't be guaranteed to maintain it's water resistance over time. Here's a quote from Apples notes on water resistance: "Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear."

For example, lets say over the course of a few months a few instances have flexed your phone slightly. This might cause micro damage to the adhesive seal. Then it gets submerged accidentally and water seeps in. This is one instance the warranty doesn't cover because the water resistance failed due to wear on the phone. I'm sure some people will argue that Apple then needs to make it more durable, but where does it end? If that were the case, screen cracks would be Apple's fault too.

FWIW, Samsung doesn't cover water damage to their phones either.

 

[ErikGrim]

"Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear."

And this is exactly why you always wash your phone or watch in clean tap water after exposing them to salt or chlorinated water: To reduce wear on seals.

 

[Piggie]

I'd like to know how water moving at speed compares to just static pressure (how deep)

In a normal household shower with water hitting the sides, how deep would that be in static water?

Likewise, what if you were in the garden and the hose pipe you are washing your car with or watering you garden (home mains water pressure) hit the device, that would be equal to quite a depth of static pressure I would guess?

I'd like to see multiple phones, held in a jig, then increasing water pressure applied to them (just a garden hose) with say the phones (and watches) rotating on the jig.

 

[truthertech]

For those complaining about not leaving the phone for 30 mins, go read the IP67 spec. You'll see that no time is specified.
Also note that Apple does not specify a time for immersion. That means that you cannot use 30min as a metric for Apples compliance.

The spec requires 30 minutes at 1 meter

 

[KarlJnK]

While the test itself is fine since both phone were subjected to the same conditions. However, the test didn't really replicate the actual pressure at the those depths given that they were sitting inside a metal container (albeit a perforated one). I'd imagine that the container would significantly alleviate the water pressure on the phones? Maybe putting the phones in net instead of a metal container might be a better option?

 

[dukeblue219]

And everybody who considers doing their own experiments in the shower: Water damage is _not_ covered by warranty. Apple has done work to make water damage less likely (and according to iFixit there are some changes in that direction in the iPhone 6 already), they got an official certification (for the iPhone 7, not for the iPhone 6), but water damage is _not_ covered by warranty.

Since people compare Apple and Samsung: Whatever phone you have, don't put it into water. If it gets wet and survives be happy that you were lucky.

If you 100% want that warranty validity and you're the type to treat your phone delicately to avoid any scratches, this is reasonable.

However, for other people this is missing out on much of the functionality of the device. For example, I took my xperia z3 on vacation to the beach and had a great time taking pictures near the pool, at the beach, and in the ocean. Yes, in a saltwater environment, no case, and stored in a velcro-close swimsuit pocket (immersed) .

It worked perfectly, stills works perfectly over a year later, and I didn't have to worry about leaving it on the beach or pool chair while we were in the water. With pay-by-phone tech in a waterproof device you don't need any cash either.

 

[err404]

The spec requires 30 minutes at 1 meter

Got a link for that? All I could find saying 30 min was wiki and it is missing a citation. Also if you use wiki as you source, the note 7 is not IP68, because it lists IP68 at 3m (Samsung lists 1.5m)
The issue is that the IPxx spec is a mess and mostly marketing.

 

[MH01]

Nice try...

What do you mean?

IP67 and IP68 were never proven, and those rating are dependent on depth/time.

In this, both phones had malfunctions at 30 feet, hence that is the depth water resistance failed on both.

Read up how water resistance works. This test is not scientific .
[doublepost=1474288554][/doublepost]

Got a link for that? All I could find saying 30 min was wiki and it is missing a citation. Also if you use wiki as you source, the note 7 is not IP68, because it lists IP68 at 3m (Samsung lists 1.5m)
The issue is that the IPxx spec is a mess and mostly marketing.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-ip68-ip-ratings-explained#MmgWjv3Yjezxl62z.03

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

I like his vids. The phones held up well.

 

[Euge]

I'd like to know how water moving at speed compares to just static pressure (how deep)

In a normal household shower with water hitting the sides, how deep would that be in static water?

Likewise, what if you were in the garden and the hose pipe you are washing your car with or watering you garden (home mains water pressure) hit the device, that would be equal to quite a depth of static pressure I would guess?

I'd like to see multiple phones, held in a jig, then increasing water pressure applied to them (just a garden hose) with say the phones (and watches) rotating on the jig.

The IP ratings actually have different test for water jets vs immersion. And something that passes an immersion test does not mean it passes a jet test. For example, something certified IPX7 does not mean it will pass IPX5 certification. Source. See the paragraph beginning with "The ratings for water ingress are not cumulative beyond IPX6."

 

[2010mini]

Guess removing that headphone jack was a good move.

 

[tresmith]

Guess removing that headphone jack was a good move.

Yeah...for Aquaman. lol

 

[err404]

What do you mean?

IP67 and IP68 were never proven, and those rating are dependent on depth/time.

In this, both phones had malfunctions at 30 feet, hence that is the depth water resistance failed on both.

Read up how water resistance works. This test is not scientific .
[doublepost=1474288554][/doublepost]
http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-ip68-ip-ratings-explained#MmgWjv3Yjezxl62z.03

Sorry, but no. That is a not an official site for the IPxx spec. That is some review site quoting Samsung's internal figure of 30 mins and thinking that it in some way applies to IPxx in general. Aka bad journalism.

 

[MH01]

Sorry, but no. That is a not an official site for the IPxx spec. That is some review site quoting Samsung's internal figure of 30 mins and thinking that it in some way applies to IPxx in general. Aka bad journalism.

In which case send the MR editors a note also, they quote it in this story, you can also do your own reasearch and prove it wrong, try google.

Either way both units failed water resistance at 30ft.

 

[dotnet]

Will stuff like salt water and chlorine have a worse effect on the phones than just clean water? I imagine the water in that river would have been salty.

Both anodised aluminium and stainless steel (Apple logo) are reasonably impervious to sea water, but there will be galvanic corrosion where the two materials meet, if left submerged for long enough.

 

[Costino1]

Would rather see a SCUBA test vs using a paint can.

I don't believe the full water pressures can be exerted on either phones in a paint can, even with holes drilled out.

I'm not a physics expert or a fan of Pascal, so maybe I'm wrong....someone help.

 

[S.B.G]

While I don't plan on going swimming or diving with my phone or other electronics, I think making them resistant to water damage at reasonable depths like this serve to help mitigate any potential damage if one were to accidentally drop their phone in a body of water, which as we all know does happen sometimes.

 

[daviszo1986]

I would have done this test differently - the length of time each phone spent under water was the same, so time could have more to do with it more than depth... with more than one variable (depth and time submerged) you cant be sure which is causing the malfunction.

 

[2010mini]

Yeah...for Aquaman. lol

For how many people I see using cellphones poolside, this is a good thing.

 

[citysnaps]

A couple of key points you should correct. The iPhone is not "built to withstand being submerged at 1 meter for 30 meters at most " It's clearly built better than that. Apple only sought certification for that level, IP7, which satisfies the needs of 99.9 % of its customers. Apple wisely is trying not to encourage people to do extreme things.

Second, IP8 is immersion at any depth beyond 1 meter for 30 mins. So a manufacturer can pick an very small and relatively meaningless increment, e.g., Samsung's .5 meter, and get the higher certification. (That's classic Samsung IMO).

Yup. Very clever manipulation designed to fool customers.

Not quite as brilliant and clever as that previous model episode a few years ago where device firmware was designed to detect when Geekbench performance tests were being run, resulting in the processor frequency being ramped up (at the expense of quickly drawing the battery) to produce decent Geekbench numbers for tech journals.

 

[applesith]

Water pressure is uniform for a given depth, calculated as P=(water density)*(gravitational acceleration)*(depth) or P=(water density)*(depth) depending on units. There's no relieving hydrostatic pressure (at least not in the way being theorized here).

The pressure in [psi] for a given depth z in [ft] for freshwater is: P=62.4/144*z=0.4333*z. For saltwater, P=0.4444*z.

I see, thanks. I don't recall my high school physics covering water pressure- wish it did lol.

 

[elmaco]

Never buying Samsung crap!

 

[SPUY767]

Would rather see a SCUBA test vs using a paint can.

I don't believe the full water pressures can be exerted on either phones in a paint can, even with holes drilled out.

I'm not a physics expert or a fan of Pascal, so maybe I'm wrong....someone help.

Water is a fluid, and a fluid will fill any unsealed vessel until pressure inside and out is equal.

 

[mtneer]

Even if the phone is sealed, there should be a depth at which it implodes. Even submarines implode at a certain depth if they sink down there.

 

[DoctaSfink]

I'm a pretty avid anglerfish enthusiast, and I need my phone to survive the extreme depths of the ocean. This just isn't going to cut it. What happened to Apple?